Unthink.com: The Anti-Facebook Social Network

October 27th, 2011 at 7:41 am

A startup social networking company that brags itself as the “anti-Facebook,” is now open for limited beta testing. Unthink.com, which is based in Tampa, Florida, considers itself as more open and more honest to its users, wherein they own their data and they can use it the way they please. It is a direct comparison against Facebook’s terms of service in which the popular social networking site can gather user data for targetted advertising.

In fact, Unthink would rather not consider itself as a social network, but a “social revolution,” wherein the users are called owners who are in complete control of what they share online.

The idea to put up Unthink started when CEO Natasha Dedis’ son wanted to sign up for Facebook and she read the terms of service. She does not agree to Facebook’s policy about how its TOS could change at any time. She also finds it exploitative how a Facebook user’s personal data–including his likes, posts, and any other activity done on the site–are gathered for advertisers to directly target precise demographics. She was also torn about whether to allow her son to register–because everybody in his social circle is doing it–or not and her son would end up as the school’s pariah.

“The number one thing that had to be ‘un-thought’ about social media, is who does it belong to? We need to own everything that we put on our page. We can be as private or as public as we want, as long as it’s our choice,” Dedis said during a press conference.

Unthink is available in either free or paid subscription, whichever the user prefers. Free members choose a brand to sponsor their pages through an advertisement program called “iEndorse.” Ideally, the users choose brands they feel significant to them and then beomce advocates for that brand. Those who would rather not iEndorse have the option to pay an annual service fee of $2. You can read more about Unthink’s features on TechCrunch’s early review.

Unthink.com is currently available on a by-invitation-only basis. Look for people who are already in Unthink and ask for an invite.